


The New Clans

by That_Nerd



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Light Angst, Light fighting, Warrior Cats, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-27 21:52:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8418277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_Nerd/pseuds/That_Nerd
Summary: The clans had fallen. They had been found by twolegs one by one until they didn't exist, that warriors that escaped lived as rogues, those who hadn't escaped were taken to the cutter, and then given to other twolegs as kittypets, some escaped, others weren't so lucky.Kits grew older and forgot the clans they had been born in, warriors struggled to remember when they were free to hunt and do as they please, warriors met warriors as neighbors and became friends, no matter what their clan had been, they needed to survive.Some hadn't gone to the cutter, old queens told their kits stories and those kits passed the stories down, now three generations later, four young cats, each with the blood of warriors, may bring new life to the lake.





	1. Chapter 1

_The clans had fallen. They had been found by twolegs one by one until they didn't exist, that warriors that escaped lived as rogues, those who hadn't escaped were taken to the cutter, and then given to other twolegs as kittypets, some escaped, others weren't so lucky._

_Kits grew older and forgot the clans they had been born in, warriors struggled to remember when they were free ti hunt and do as they please, warriors met warriors as neighbors and became friends, no matter what their clan had been, they needed to survive._

_Some hadn't gone to the cutter, old queens told their kits stories and those kits passed the stories down, now three generations later, four young cats, each with the blood of warriors, may bring new life to the lake._  
-  
**Bark, bark, bark,** _"Will that beast ever shut it's mouth?"_ Flare thought to herself, glaring in the general direction of the grating yelps of the neighbor's small dog. The obnoxious beast had been barking nonstop from dawn, and it was raelly getting on Flare's nerves, she was almost tempted to go and claw the dog's snout until it stopped barking, she unsheathes her claws and moved to get up, when she was tackled from behind.

Flare rolled onto her back and kicked at her attacker, who leapt off. "Hiya, Flare!" Swing-Flare's sister-mewed cheerily.

"You didn't need to attack me." Flare responded, sitting up and twisting to lick her fur back into place, Swing only giggled, making Flare roll her eyes. After a few moments the she cat stood up and stretched out, yawning.

"I didn't need to," Swing mewed, "but it was fun!"

"And painful." Flare retorted. "What do you want?"

Swing didn't usually hang around at their twoleg's nest, instead preferring to adventure the surrouning area and befriend whatever cats lived nearby, Flare was content to stay in the backyard and nap, or chase bugs and occasionally birds.

"I found a loner."

"Good for you."

"Remember the stories ma used to tell us? About forest cats?"

She did remember. Their mother had called herself Rosedawn, the name the twolegs called her by was Pink, and she had told her kits all about the clan she had been born into, "I was an apprentice!" She'd proudly say, "my warrior ceremony was going to happen, but then the twolegs came." It had never made sense to Swing or Flare, but they loved her stories and knew what their mother had called "The Warrior Code" by heart, simply because she had drilled it into them.

"What about them?"

"I met a cat who was in the clans!"

"Wait," Flare's interest was piqued, the ginger she cat looked at her sister. "Really?"

"Yes! He said his name was Speckledcloud and that he had been in the same clan as Mom!"

Flare got up. "Really? I wanna meet him!"

Swing's eyes brightend. "He said he had something to tell us, so let's hurry!" Flare got up and followed Swing as she ran off, tail waving in excitement.

It didn't take long for the two she cats to find the tom, Swing knew the way to the field where he lived, and she lead her sister to the box the old cat was using as a nest.

"Speckledcloud! I'm back, and I brought Flare!" Swing meowed, Flare watched the box intently as an old black and white tom emerged from the box, his ears were notched and his muzzle was grey, he looked tired.

"Young, young kits, barely old enough to be apprentices.." The old tom rasped, looking the two over. "Starclan," he seemed to have a hard time mewing. "Starclan told me, about you."

"What?" Flare was confused, this old cat was probably crazy. From what her mother had said, Starclan was just a bunch of dead cats, they couldn't tell anyone anything unless they were a medicine cat.

Speckledcloud raised his muzzled towards the sky for a few moments, then slowly looked back at the two cats who sat before him. "I can't explain much, young kits, my time is ending, I am old,"

 _"Stating the obvious, there."_ Flare thought.

The two young cats were silent, he continued. "You must return to the lake, you must bring back the clans."

"That's impossible!" Swing mewed. "There were four clans and only two of us, and we don't know anything!"

Speckledcloud gave an amused purr. "You.. Know more than you think.. The stars, they will guide you, return the clans.."

Flare shifted, kneading the ground with her front paws. "That's crazy."

"You will," The tom's eyes cleared. "You will."

He gave neither cat time to respond, Speckledcloud stood up and went back to his box without saying anything else. Thoroughly confused, Flare and Swing decided to just leave, his quest was impossible and they both knew it, they didn't even know how to find the lake, much less start a clan.

But the stars had a plan for them, and whether they wanted to or not, Flare and Swing were going to rebuild the clans.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shard was wise, while other kittypets were content to lounge around and be waited on by twolegs, he wanted to learn and sought answers from whereever he could get them.

**Shard stared at his reflection in the silver stone** , it was a mirror, or he thought it was, "mirror" was one of the few twoleg words he knew. Staring back at him was a long furred, dark grey cat with an even darker grey back and bright yellow eyes, the eyes, Shard was convinced, were not his, they seemed too young, he felt old.

The young tom was only twelve moons old, but he knew a lot. Shard was wise, while other kittypets were content to lounge around and be waited on by twolegs, he wanted to learn and sought answers from where ever he could get them.

He turned away from the mirror and padded out into he main room his his twoleg's den, like every day, his twoleg was away from the den, Shard didn't know where, and he didn't want to. Taking a few quick steps, he charged forward and on to the couch, kneaded it with his front paws, and then laid down. But it didn't feel right, he wanted to be outside, not trapped in a stuffy old den that smelt of must and cat, Shard sat up and sighed, then sprang down from the couch and over to the clear-stone to peer out into the yard.

After a moment he deemed it safe and padded out through the flap in the clear-stone, he stretched out in the sun and let it's rays warm his pelt for a few moments before he padded over to the fence and jumped on to it, looking into the yards that bordered his own.

While he sat there, his thoughts turned to the wild cats who lived by the lake. Shard himself didn't live anywhere near the lake, he was too deep in the twoleg place, but rumors and stories traveled far and reached him, and he heard about the wild cats who didn't need twolegs and caught their own food. He liked the stores, but that was all they were, or so he had thought up until a few moons ago.

Three catshad shown up in his yard a few moons ago, they hid under a bush and didn't know he lived there, when he found them the cats were miserable things with dull eyes and bones showing through ragged pelts, they smelled wild and looked wild, so Shard helped them.

He brought them old pelts for nests, and he'd bring them food, in exchange they told him stories of where they had come from. Their names were Ravenstep, Swiftstrike, and Mossnose, and they had managed to escape when they had been captured by twolegs, Ravenstep was the eldest of the three, and told Shard they couldn't return to the lake, the twolegs would find them, and they had no where to go.

Shard let them stay for as long as he could before his twoleg found them and drove them away, he missed them and their stories, he wondered if they ever made it back to the lake. Or if they had gone to the place Swiftstrike called Starclan, hidden in the sky, where warriors went when they died.

The tom shook his head, turning the sad thoughts out of mind, and on the spot, he made a vow, "I promise, one day I'll bring the clans back."

He hadn't realized he had meowed outloud, nor had he realized he was no longer alone. Sitting in front of him was his neighbor, a black she cat with a white underbelly named Princess.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked.

"Myself." Shard retorted.

Princess squinted, doubtful. "Riiiight. You aren't going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"It's none of your business." He really didn't like Princess, she was noisy and demanding.

The she cat harrumphed and gave her chest a few quick licks. "Whatever."

"What do you want?" Shard asked, he regretted going outside, of course Princess would be there, she always was.

She shrugged. "Just thought I'd say hi, no need to get hostile."

Shard sighed. "I'm going in, then. Bye."

He gave her no time to respond before leaping off the fence and padding back into his twoleg's den. Shard had a plan, and he needed to think over it, alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gust of wind rocked the trees, branches made whooshing noises and the leaves rattled, the same gust of wind seemed to be pushing Brine forward, towards the lake, towards her ancestors.

**Brine gazed out at the lake,** it wasn't too far from where she and her twolegs lived, and she longed to go to it, to go and explore the land surounding and see if she could find the reminding clan cats from the stories her mother had told her.

She didn't remember her mother, not really, having been seperated from her mother when she was only three moons old, the only things Brine remembered were her mother's scent, voice, and the stories she'd tell.

The she cat shook her headand leapt off the fence to pace in her yard, tail lashing in agitation. Brine wanted so badly to see the clans and live with the wild cats, but she couldn't leave her twolegs, they took care of her! And she didn't even know how to hunt or anything, she'd die out there.

Brine stopped pacing, something seemed to pull her to the lake, something she couldn't explain. The grey cat leapt back on to the fence and looked out at the lake again, if she squinted she could make out waves lapping the lake's shore.

A gust of wind rocked the trees, branches made whooshing noises as the leaves rattled, the same gust of wind seemed to be pushing Brine forward, towards the lake, towards her ancestors. She shook her head, _"No,"_ she thought. _"I can't go, I can't!"_

But the odd pull she felt wouldn't leave her alone.

With a huff, Brine leapt off the fence again and quickly padded into her twoleg's den, it was warm inside, warm and safe, she had food and shelter and everything she needed right there. Everything except the space to run and hunt and be free.

 _"No,"_ she thought again. She was happy there, why wouldn't she be?

With a few quick steps, Brine jumped up onto the couch and stretched out across one her her twoleg's lap and meowed at him, absently, he started rubbing behind her ears, Brine purred. This was all well and good, but was she truly happy? The lake called her, the wind pushed her, her place wasn't with twolegs.

Her place was in the wild, hunting and running and fighting, her place was to revuild and lead a clan.

As her twoleg petted her, Brine made her plans to leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We can't go to the lake," Flare broke the silence, she didn't give Swing time to respond. "I know you, and I know you've been thinking about it. We can't go."

**Swing bounced around the yard** , clumsily pouncing on things and rolling around as if she were fighting enemies only she could see, while Flare watched from the stone slabs by the doors, eyes half closed.

Unlike her sister, Swing was far more adventurous and active. While Flare was content to lay around, Swing went out exploring the neighborhood and meeting new cats, she loved learning about the same wild cats her mother had claimed to be descendes from, and occasionally she met cats from the same clans.

Another way that made her different from her sister was how easily tricked she could be by twolegs and cats alike. This didn't mean Swing was stupid, just gullible, and she often rushed into things without thinking about them first.

Like the "quest" the old cat in the park had given them.

Swing really was thinking about it's pro's and con's, but it sounded fun, and she wanted to make her mother proud and save these wild cats, but first she had to convince Flare.

"You aren't doing it right." Flare mewed, still watching as Swing attempted a hunter's crouch.

The younger cat stood and faced her sister. "How do you know?" 

"I can just tell," Flare replied.

"Come and show me how it's done, then!"

"Fine."

Flare slowly got up and trotted over to where Swing stood in the middle of the yard, but stopped a few paces back and lowered into a crouch. Her hips were too high and her pawsteps heavy, but it was a better crouch than what Swing had been attempting.

Without warning, Flare launched at her sister, who barely had time to flee before she was dragged to the ground. Growling playfully, Swing kicked and thrashed under Flare as she tried to escape, she managed to roll the other cat off of her a pin her down, but it didn't last.

Soon the two were rolling around in the grass, playfully hissing and spitting and batting at each other with sheathed claws and landing light nips on each other's bodies.

Eventually they sprang apart, sharing amused purrs as they caught their breath and teased each other about slip ups they had made, but soon they quieted down and laid in the grass, each falling into her own thoughts.

"We can't go to the lake," Flare broke the silence, she didn't give Swing time to respond. "I know you, and I know you've been thinking about it. We can't go."

Swing's ears flattened. "But we should! There's nothing keeping us here- it'll be wonderful!"

"What if we die? Or fail? Then what? We don't even know how to fight!"

"Then we'll learn!"

"And then what?"

"I-" Swing wasn't sure. "Then we'll bring back the clans!"

"How?"

"You know what?" Swing got up and started stalking away. "If you don't want to come then fine, but I'm going and you can't stop me!"

"Swing, wait!" Flare sprang to her feet and charged after her sister, but she was already on the fence, staring down at her sister angerly. "Please, don't, I can't lose you!"

"Then come with me."

Flare's eyes misted. "I-I, but our twolegs-"

Swing cut her off. "Will be fine. Are you coming or not?"

"I need time," Flare ducked her head. "To think."

"You don't have time, I'm leaving now." Swing was almost bluffing, she and Flare had never been apart before, she didn't think she could leave her, but, if Flare wasn't going to help her on this quest, then she would go alone.

"Please," Flare never begged, but she didn't want her sister to leave, they couldn't be apart.

"No, now or never."

Flare sighed and looked back at their twoleg's den, thinking of all the time they had spent there, warm and safe and well fed, then she looked at Swing, her darling younger sister who she always protected, the same sister who was going to go into dangers unknown, and she made her choice.

When Flare leapt onto the fence with her, Swing's ears perked up and her eyes brightend, she nudged her sister reassuringly and stood. "Ready?"

"No," Flare responded. "Let's go."

And off they went.


	5. Chapter 5

**After only a few** days of walking, which probably would've been shorter had Shard had reliable directions.

Instead, he had had to go to another tom named Smidge who knew the area better than Shard did, only to be told that he didn't know how to get to the lake, and sent Shard to another cat, this time a she cat named Jane.

"You want to get to the lake?" She had asked, watching Shard as he ate the food she had offered, Shard had been travelling for a day or two by that point, and was quite tired and hungry, Jane knew this, and had shown him were he could scavenge food before she gave him directions.

"Yes, it's," He paused between bites, looking up at the she cat. "It's for a friend, I want to go and visit her." He was thinking about Mossnose, they had been close in the few moons they had known each other.

Jane nodded. "The lake isn't far from here, but are you sure you want to go? It's full of feral cats and they could hurt you."

"I doubt that," Shard mewed. "Could you show me how to get there? Or at least tell me?"

She hesitated. "Yeah, I can tell you, I'd lead you, but, I don't want to go near it. Or worry my upwalkers."

Shard inclined his head slightly. "I understand, could I stay in your yard over night? I dn't want to travel in the dark." Jane nodded again.

The next morning, Jane gave him directions to get to the lake, or at least to send him in that right direction, he thanked her and moved on, avoiding mainroads and shady allyways so he wouldn't get ambushed by twolegs, monsters, or other cats.

It was almost sundown when he reached a cluster of twoleg dens that weren't far from the lake, he didn't want to travel any longer, his legs were tired and he wanted to rest before he walked into potential danger.

Shard found an empty looking yard with an equally empty looking twoleg den. He scavemged around for something to eat and found a bush to hide under while he slept, already trying to figure out how he was going to take on the lake.


	6. Chapter 6

**The forest seemed dead,** despite teeming with prey and growing wonderfully, there were no sounds side from the lapping of waves on the lake shore and the songs of birds high in the trees.

It made Brine sad, to see what had been home to many cats reduced to an overgrown emptiness, not even loners or strays bothered to go near the lake, it carried such a heavy atmosphere, that all that had been there was lost.

But still she explored, checking out every abandoned rabbit hole nd empty clearing she could find, it was all so interesting, the new scents and the wildlife and how the plants grew all over the place instead of twoleg maintained plots.

One of her favourite places so far was a small island away from the shore, one she didn't even want to try and get to. What had once been a large fallen tree that the wildcat's must've used to get across to the island was now worn away by weather and rot, making it incrossable, and there was no way Brine was even going to try and go in the lake, she hated water.

She avoided the river, too, not wanting to get her paws wet, there was nothing for her there, so what was the point in even going?

It was while she was walking on the lake's pebbly shore when Brine encountered another cat, the first and only cat she met that day. The she cat was pale ginger with a white spot on her chest and darker markings on the rest of her body, her eyes were amber and she had an oddly long, thin tail, as soon as the stranger noticed Brine, she snarled, her ears flattened to her head. Brine backed away refelexivly.

"What are you doing here, _kittypet_?" She spat the last word like it was an insult, Brine supposed it was.

"Walking," Brine mewed in response. "What are you doing?"

"None of your business."

"Okay."

Brine was ready to leave, she didn't want to fight or anything, so why bother talking to an obviously hostile cat? It didn't make any sense.

"What's your name?" Asked the she cat before Brine could leave.

"What's yours?" She responded.

"None of your business," the other hissed.

"Oh," Brine mewed. "Then neither is mine."

The cat hissed again, eyeing Brine with obvious disgust. "Go home, kittypet, you don't belong here."

"Do you belong here?"

"Yes!"

"Then I do too, no cat owns this land, I can tread where I please."

"Entitled kittypet," the she cat spat. "Run back to your twolegs before it's too late."

Before Brine could respond or ask what she meant, the she cat ran off, Brine watched as her tail-tip disappeared into the brambles, then turned and padded off, confused. Deciding it was enough for one day, she turned back to the small den she had dug out underneath a bush to rest.

After all, she couldn't start a clan in a day.


End file.
